Connection arrangements are already known and make it possible to connect together respective pipelines for supplying and receiving a fluid in one direction or the other, between two stations, one of which could be a fixed station and the other of which could be a mobile station.
Also known in the known connection and disconnection arrangements is an emergency disconnection device making it possible, in an extreme situation of drift or accident, for example, in case of fire, to distance the mobile pipe section from the fixed pipe section in order to prevent damage to the structure or wrenching off of the pipes while ensuring containment of the fluid in the pipelines.
In the known arrangements, the pivot axes of the disks of the two pipe sections are spaced apart from one another, in the axial direction of the pipe sections, when the pipe sections are connected, thus enabling execution of their pivoting movement between open and closed positions. This has the disadvantage that when the disks occupy their closed position they delimit between them a relatively large space that is filled with fluid. In event of emergency disconnection, this quantity of fluid is lost into to the environment.
Such an incident is very serious when the transferred fluids are dangerous to people and the environment, or involve a risk of fire. This is the case in particular for the transfer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) between, for example, a loading or unloading terminal and a liquefied gas tanker.